However, I decided to move my blog over to www.keepingourheartsathome.blogspot.com , so stop on over

 I have not been around much lately first due to thanksgiving preparations, now due to my 24-hour "morning sickness". 

 In my first pregnancy I had NO morning sickness, 2nd- none, 3rd- not really sick just a loss of appetite. Now since Saturday I have had horrible 24-hour "morning sickness". Yes, that is right all day and all night.

I am not throwing up but I am very nauseous. I also feel like I am starving all the time, then I eat and I feel nauseous, then about 5 minutes later I feel starving again !?!?! I woke up last night at 3:00 in the morning and I was sooo hungry so I went downstairs and had a piece of sprouted toast w/ organic peanut butter on it and a glass of  kefir. That quenched the hunger slightly but not much.

I am not sure why I feel so horrible. I am taking my SuperMom vitamins, my cod liver oil, drinking Kefir everyday, and I am  trying to get to eating as healthy as I would like.

I am barely able to do the basic necessities of keeping my house together. My house needs a good cleaning, I have a mountain of laundry that needs to be folded and ironed, an undecorated Christmas tree in my living room, all my fall decorations still up.

So any way that is why I have not been around as of late

Well, I am going to put the kiddies to bed and lie down on the couch.

  I have gotten quite off track with my cleaning schedule. So I am trying to do some catch up.  I want to get all caught up before my pregnancy fatigue sets in. Right now I still have tons of energy and really no symptoms yet (except that my clothes are a little snug). I know that is not going to last long so I  am hurrin' up ;-)

So here is what I accomplished  today (so far)

• Vacuumed kitchen floor
• Washed the kitchen floor (on my hands and knees)
• Cleaned the downstairs bathroom
• Deep cleaned the highchair
• Deep cleaned stove top
• Organized homeschool bookcase
• Cleaned off and wiped down kitchen counters
• Washed a load of clothes
• Homeschooled the kids
• Washed all the dishes

  I still need to straighten and vacuum the living room. I also will wash a couple more loads of clothes. I don't have to fix supper because we are having left-over spaghetti, yum!!!

  Well I have to go and finish up, so later and can take a break and do some reading.

 Yay!!! I am pregnant!!!  I am so blessed. It never fails to amaze me when I find out I am pregnant, it still always feels like such a miracle.

 I have not had much time to post lately, but I wanted to stop in and share the news

   Since I don't have much time to post today, I thought I would share my menu for the next couple of weeks dinner. We usually eat each meal two nights in a row so I can stretch my meals out this way. It works wonderful!!!

• Vegetable Beef Soup (slow cooker)
• Lentil Soup
• Cream of tomatoe soup w/ tuna sandwiches (on sprouted bread) and salad
• Lemon pepper chicken breasts w/ Brown rice and veggies
• Fish w/ veggies and baked potatoes
• Lasagna w/ salad and garlic bread
• Chicken Barley Vegetable soup (slow cooker)
• Cream of potatoe soup
• Broccoli cheese soup
• Meatloaf w/ mashed potatoes and veggies

With all the soups I usually make  wholemade rolls.  I  also have two whole chickens and a roast that I bought because they were on sale. I will add to this list when I figure out what I am making with those. I usually never purchase things that are not on my list but these were really good deals.

 Tonight I don't have to cook as we are going over to my mother-in-laws tonight because she is making some of her wonderful tamals. YUM, YUM!!! My favorite

   I wanted to say thank you to all the wonderful ladies who gave me the great advice on the sleep problems I was having with my 19 month old.  I am very happy to report that she is sleeping through the night !!!!!

   I was very surprised at how easy it actually was. Whenever she woke up she would stand up and say "Mama", then I would get up and lay her down and tell her go ni-night. And she would go back to sleep!!!  The first night she woke maybe about 4 times, the next night 3 and so on. Now she doesn't wake at all.

  I put her to bed at 8:30 and she usually wakes up around 7 or 7:30. (today she woke up at 6:00 due to the time change). It is such a wonderful blessing to have her finally sleeping through the night. I still wake up several times a night out of habit, I think it will take me awhile to get used to the fact that I don't have to wake up

    It is such as wonderfully nice day today!!! It is 68 degrees right now, woohooo!!! The kids and I took advantage of the nice weather and took a loooong  walk. Then we did school and ate lunch. My 19 month old is napping right now. I decided to let the kids have a little fun in the warm weather before it gets too cold again, so we broke away from the schedule and my dd7 and ds5 are outside playing right now. 

Here is my list of some things I still need to get done today:

-Clean the upstairs and downstairs bathrooms

-Wash a load of dishes

-Wash a couple loads of laundry

-Fold and put away two loads of laundry

-Put together my co-op order

Well I best be off to get started on my list, I don't have much time because I have  to take my daughter to dance class at 4:00. 

   Wow, I can't believe it has been 2 1/2 weeks already. Where does time go? I have gotten a lot done and I still have things to finish, but I decided that my break is over :-)

   This morning I stopped on over at my sweet friend, Candy's blog, Keeping the Home. I have been anxiously awaiting a "surprise" that she was putting together for all her readers. Well this morning she unveiled her surprise. Wooohoooo!!!! It is an absolutely, wonderfully, awesome (and FREE) e-book called  "The Joyful Christian Homemaker". You can download it here for FREE!!! It is excellent!!!!

  Candy has been such a blessing to me (and I am sure to many other women). About a 1 1/2 years ago I was searching for something, although I did not know what. I was saved, however, I was not "on track". I came across her website looking for a something to schedule my days (the home management binder).  I was so blessed by her website, that was the start of my 100 degree turn around. She would answer any questions I had or even just give me encouragement, she was such a blessing. My walk with the Lord is stronger than it ever has been before, I have learned so much from her. 

  Candy, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. You will never know how much you have inspired me and encouraged me. I thank God very often for bringing you into my life. He is using you in such a beautiful way. Keep up the wonderful ministry that you are doing   May God bless you for all you have done and are doing to help other women!!!!

  Yes, I am going to take a short (hopefully) break. I have some things that I really need to take care of right now. I feel that if I am not getting everything accomplished (whether it be spiritual or physical) one of the first things to go at this point would be blogging. 

  Although I really don't spend very much time blogging, I am thinking it about often (hmmm, what should I blog about today).

  So I am off for a short break. I will be checking in on my friends once in while though :-)

By Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D.
Sermon Delivered 9/11/05

Jeremiah 18:1-17

On August 22, 1787, George Mason (1725–1792), Father of the Bill of Rights, made this statement during the debates of the Constitutional Convention –

"As Nations cannot be rewarded or punished in the next world, they must be in this. By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence punishes national sins, by national calamities."

I believe Mason was right! I further believe that for many years God has been slowly withdrawing his hand of blessing on this nation. Now, it seems apparent to me that God has begun to judge this nation. Look at what’s happening to America in recent years. Today is the fourth anniversary for the 9-11 terrorists attack that took the lives of nearly 3000 of people and cost billions of dollars to clean up and repair the damage. Billions more are being appropriated to try to prevent another attack.

Then there was the anthrax scare that took several lives and huge sums of money are being spent to counter more of the same. The Post Master General has said, "The anthrax attack will cost the United States Post Office billions of dollars in lost trade and the implementation of a screening and sanitizing system."

Western wildfires, covering a third of the nation, have destroyed homes and taken the lives of several fire fighters. Again, the cost has been in the billions of dollars and creating untold hardship for thousands of people. Others are seeing floods and mudslides wash away their homes and diminishing their hopes for the future. In other parts of the nation droughts, are drying up crops and incomes. The stock market has dipped to a dangerous and freighting low and causing thousands to lose their life savings and removing much of their income. Last year, 6 hurricanes did billions of dollars of damage to towns in Florida and surrounding states.

Who can forget the latest calamity of biblical proportions -- Hurricane Katrina. I have heard reporters make that statement numerous times over the past the days. To be sure, the devastation is unbelievable and it will be months before we know how many were killed and years before homes and businesses can be rebuilt. But, what you might not have known is that homosexuals had planned a huge Southern Decadence festival… replete with tens of thousands of men and women engaged in public nudity, prostitution, illegal drug use and destructive public S & M sex. According to WorldNetDaily, "Hurricane Katrina walloped New Orleans just two days before the annual homosexual ‘Southern Decadence’ festival was to begin in the town." I ask you. Could it be that God is judging America?

For the first 150 to 175 years, America’s culture had a respect for God, His Commandments, His principles, and for His people (see Psalm 36:1-4). Our government, our courts, our schools and colleges, and our leaders made rulings and decisions based on Biblical principles, but that all started changing about 50 years ago. All of those solid Biblical principles that were the foundation for our Constitution and Bill of Rights, and highly regarded for nearly 200 years are now being maligned, ignored, litigated and judged unconstitutional. The teachings of the Bible are deemed as being unacceptable and even harmful by unbelievers and God haters, and it is increasingly being ruled that it must be excluded in the public forum. The atheists, humanists, hedonists, homosexuals, ET Al harangue that Christians are bigots, hate mongers, homophobic, puritanical and intolerant and must NOT be allowed to express their offensive views in public. These heathens rage that the Bible and its teachings even corrupt the minds of people and make them intolerant of others. (I think Psalm 2 really applies to today). We should be intolerant of sin and evil (Psalm 97:10; 101:3)

Christian friends, when Israel turned away from God, God would send prophets and messengers to worn them to repent from their wicked ways, reject idolatry, and repent of the worship of foreign gods. When they would not heed His messengers there came a time when God would allow them to reap the consequences of their sinful ways, and He would send judgment upon then in various ways. We see this in 2 Kings 17:12-20.

Some Christians are wondering why all these bad things are happening while we have a President who says he is a Christian and reads the Bible regularly. It is certain that President George Bush is much less hostile to Christianity and more in line with Godly issues then Al Gore or John Kerry would have been. By anyone’s estimation his moral character is far beyond that of his predecessor, Bill Clinton. But why is so much bad stuff happening when George W. Bush is President? The liberals would have you believe that it is all George Bush’s fault, when that is not true. Study your Old Testament carefully. As most students of the Bible know, God's judgment comes on a nation years after the crime, in some cases hundreds of years. For instance, God postponed His judgment on the nations of the earth for 120 years in the days of Noah (Genesis 6:3; 1 Peter 3:20).

I believe America has reaped the prosperous harvest because of the Christian seed sown by our Godly forefathers. But, for the last 30-60 years generations have been sowing evolutionism, secular humanism, relativism, amorality, immorality, political correctness, hedonism and Multiculturalism into the culture. The harvest from that seed has been growing up and now we are beginning to reap the harvest. Should we be surprised that God would judge our nation in light of Galatians 6:7-8 "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

With this thought in mind, I pose this question to you… Is not America deserving of God’s Judgment? Is America deserving of Judgment?

Consider these facts. According to reports published by Paul Scott's syndicated column, one million two hundred thousand (1,200,000) abortions took place in the United States last year. Even more shocking, is the information that the government financed between 222,000 and 278,000 of these abortions. The Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) furnished these figures.

I agree with the Baptist preacher E. L. Bynum who said, "I maintain that this (abortion) may be one of the greatest crimes in the annals of human history. This may be a crime so dark, a sin so black, that nothing can stay the hand of God's righteous judgment upon America.”

Let’s consider some other statistics…

Homicide and incarceration are the highest of any industrialized nation. Ten times that of Japan, Sweden, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

Crime increased by 371% since 1960, with Juvenile Crime up 920% since 1985, the highest in the world.

Divorce quadrupled in the last 30 years, making the U.S. the world leader. Divorces among professed Christians are slightly higher than those who do not profess to be Christians.

Teenage pregnancies also quadrupled in the last 30 years (more than a million a year) making the US the Western World leader.

American is the voluntary abortion leader in the world.

America is the illegal drug use leader of the world.

America is the illiteracy world leader among industrialized nations, with our National Educational Standards among the lowest in the world.

While I do not claim to be a prophet, I think that any student of the Scriptures can see that God hand of judgment is moving on America. The proverbial "chickens" are coming home to roost. Because of abortion, homosexuality and many other sins against God, this nation is beginning to reap what it has sown. "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." Proverbs 14:34. The "entitlement" attitude, the deplorable drug addiction, appalling alcoholism, the profusion of pornography, widening crime wave, utterly abominable homosexual movement, the push for same sex marriage, and the anti-God, anti-Christ attitude of multitudes in our nation today signal that the nation is RIPE for Judgment. Turn to Psalms 50:22 "Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver." Has the tearing in peaces begun in America? I think it has.

I believe that judgment has begun. Did you hear that they expect natural gas prices to be up as much as 70% this winter? Fuel oil is expected to rise 30% and electricity 15%. These along with the high gasoline prices may soon evaporate the American dream and turn it into a nightmare.

Now back to the question I posed earlier -- Is America deserving of Judgment? The answer is regrettable yes! God will not be mocked!

Do not confuse what I am saying. I believe America is still the greatest nation in the world. However, remember that there was a time when Israel of the Old Testament was also a great nation. That was when they were following the Lord under the leadership of Joshua, David and Solomon. But their greatness crumbled when they decided to ignore God and worship other gods and idols. America is now at that point. In the beginning, our nation respected God, honored His Word, and hated idol worship, and refused to encourage and invite the worship of any religion except that of the Bible. But that is not so today. We are now encouraging and inviting the teaching of Secular Humanism, New Age, Islam, multiculturalism, and various cults in many of our public schools and colleges, all in the name of diversity. The "powers that be" in our country are tolerating and promoting any kind of philosophy or religion at the expense of the true God of the Bible. The Scripture is clear. Exodus 20:3-5 says, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."

God's promise to Israel was that blessing would follow them where ever they were if they would continue to obey him. He said in Deuteronomy 28:13 "And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:" However, He also said if they would "not hearken unto his voice" curses would come upon them and overtake them.

Most of us know the story of Israel well and how they became a "stiff neck people" and paid a heavy for it. Is it possible that our nation is standing where stiff-necked Israel stood (Jeremiah 17:23)? I believe that is where our nation is today. And I believe unless we repent as a nation and turn back to God that we can expect to see more judgment at the hand of God. As believers we must live righteously, evangelize boldly and pray fervently for a revival in our land.
 

  The Sideways Screen

  You know the weirdest thing about my screen getting turned sideways yesterday was this: The day before yesterday I read this story about how these people played a trick on their boss and turned everything backwards and upside down, and .....the computer screen sideways. Now when I read this story I thought to myself "That is so weird, I didn't even know you could do that".

  So yesterday I am upstairs cleaning the bathroom when my dd7 comes upstairs and says "Mama, your computer screen is sideways" I thought she meant that the whole monitor was broke or something. So I ran down stairs and sure enough it was sideways. Guess who was playing at the computer?? Dd1!!! She climbed on the chair and was playing with the computer.  Isn't that the strangest thing???

  So.....I know you all are just dying to know how you can turn your screen sideways (in case you want to lay on the floor while on the computer) or upside down (maybe you would like to do a handstand while on the computer) so here it is.....you just press Ctrl+Alt+ the arrow in which ever direction you want your screen to be  TADA!!!

Sleep Problems

 Since dd1 was born, her sleep habits have been terrible. When she was a month old she would scream from 11:00pm till about 2:00am. Hubby and I would go back and forth, him walking her, me seeing if she wanted to nurse. It was exausting. She finally stopped doing this at about 6 months.

 My two oldest were always on a sleep schedule. But with dd1 it was next to impossible to get her to go to sleep in her crib. So I gave up and just let her go to sleep when we did or when she finally passed out ( I know, I know). Same with naps; I couldn't handle the hours of crying in her crib and I ended up letting her fall asleep when she felt like it.

  So after allowing a ton of bad habits I finally got frusterated and decided she had to go to sleep when I wanted her too.  I started putting her down for a nap at 1:00 and to bed at 9:00. However, she would only sleep for about 30-45 mins for her nap and she would wake up at 6:30am or 7:30am.

 For her nap I started leaving her in her crib for 2 hrs even if she woke up before that. She would always fall back to sleep. Now for her naps she almost always sleeps 2 hrs.

  Now nightime is still a different story. Although she does go to sleep fine she wakes up to nurse at about 11:30 pm and then I usually bring her in bed to nurse her, that way I can sleep. However, she is waking up about 10 times a night to nurse!!! I know this is waaay to much for a 18 month old. She also kicks us, screams, kicks the covers off ,ect  while she is in bed with us. I have tried to put her back in her crib but she just screams and screams. She might drift off to sleep but then wakes again in about 15 mins and starts screaming again, it is horrible.

  So I know I have created a monster and now I need to fix it. Any suggestions??? Or should I just let her scream in her crib till she gets the point??? All I know is that I have to do something, hubby and I are desperatly lacking in the sleep department.

 * Update:  I fixed it!!!!*

My children somehow turned my computer screen sideways. Does any one know how to fix it!!!!  I am getting a kink in my neck typing this   

Yesterday we went to my sister-in-laws 15th birthday. Traditionally she was supposed to have a quinceneara (sp?), but she decided she did not want to have one. Her two oldest sisters had their quinceneara a few years back and it is quite the celebration. Pretty much like a wedding but nobody is getting married  So for her birthday, we just had a quiet dinner at a yummy mexican restuarant, it was nice.

  Today was a beautiful day. It is 82 degrees outside. Just when I was getting used to the idea of cool weather a another nice day came back to tease me   I decided to take advantage of it and took an early looong walk with the kids, they loved it.

  I just finished schooling and now 18 month old is taking a nap and 5yr old and 7 yr old are in their bedrooms for some quiet time. I decided to treat myself to a rare cup of coffee, since this morning at the store I found eggnog creamer, YUM!!! So I am drinking my coffee and having my time on the computer.

Other Thoughts

  I just read this headline; School shooting in a one room Amish school. It literally made me sick to my stomach. The violence in schools is escalating and spreading. It does not matter how small or large the school is. Just this past friday the principle was shot and killed at a school  here in Wisconsin. It was only a small town of  800. Also there was the recent shooting at the school in Colorado.

  Parents; if the lack of quality education, the sometimes bad  influence of teachers and other students on your child does not bother you, this alone should get your attention. But you say "No, not my kids school" oh, yes it can happen at any school and it seems to be getting more and more common. When is it going to stop? it probably is  not going to stop and more likely it is going to keep getting worse. Do you really want to take the chance and see if it  happens at your kids school? If you can homeschool your children ( I know there are situations where it is not possible) please do.

 I urge you to read this wonderful article that Candy at Keeping the Home wrote.

Well, my time is up, gotta go

  About a month ago, we took a trip to the zoo. We were walking and hubby was holding 18 month olds hand. She tripped and she started screaming and holding her arm. We were just going to find the emergency center at the zoo when she just stopped crying and started using her arm again just fine. So we figured she was o.k. About two weeks later I helped her get down from a chair and the same thing happened but she stopped crying again after 5 mins. So me and Hubby decided maybe it was just a coincidence, but if it happened again we were definatly going to take her to the doctor.

Well, sunday evening we were over at hubby's parents house.  I changed 18 month olds diaper and helped her get up by holding her arms. She immediatly started screaming and would not let anybody touch her arm. But this time she did not stop. So we immediatly took her to the emergency room. They  took her temp, blood pressure, did x-rays ect but they could not find anything wrong. Meanwhile my poor baby was in SO much pain it was horrible  After about   1 1/2 hrs the doctor came in and he said that he thought she had Nursemaids Elbow. He did the method to get the elbow back in the socket  She screamed terribly for a second and then this wash of relief came over her face and she immediatly wanted to get down and play.

  He told us that, being so young, her bones are not fused yet and that her muscles are not strong enough to hold the joints together. So we are NOT going to be holding her arms at all. I am so scared to hurt her, I don't even want to take her shirt off because I am afraid that I am going to hurt her. I just feel so bad that that happened to her. But at least we know now what was wrong and how to try and prevent it. The doctor did say it could happen again even while she is playing or falls or something and just to take her back in and they will pop it back  in.   I can feel the gray hairs popping out of my head.

  The doctors there were very nice and only gave me a slightly hard time about not immunizing my children.   While I was there I remembered how much I dislike hospitals (and no I never had a bad experience). I know hospitals can be very good (like they were for my baby on Sunday) But they just give me a bad feeling when I am there. That is one of the many reasons why I have my babies at home. I don't think I would ever be able to relax in a hospital. But o.k that is going off topic

  I have to get going, I am hoping to try and get the rest of my autumn decorations up today. I have to get my potatoe soup cooking in the slow cooker and I have to go do homeschool with the children.

I wanted to share some pics of my house decorated for fall. But yesterday we went to see if I our camara was fixable and they said they did not know what was wrong with it and they would have to send it out. They said it would cost $150.00 just to send it out, come on, it is not even worth that much. So we have to get a new one but I am not sure when we are going to be able to do that.

Potato Soup

8 large potatoes, cubed

2 medium onions chopped

3 Tbsp. butter

1/2-1 lb bacon, cooked, crisp, drained,

and crumbled

3 chicken bouillon cubes

2 Tbsp. dried parsley

6 cups water

2 cups milk

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup water

1 tsp. salt

1/4-1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Combine all ingredients except flour, 1/4 water, salt, and pepper in large  slow cooker.

2.Cover. Cook in High 6 hours, and then on Low 3 hours.

3. Make a paste out of the flour and water. Stir into the soup one hour before serving. Season with salt and pepper.

Slow Cooker Enchiladas

1 lb. ground beef

1 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped green peppers

16-oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

10-oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained

1/3 cup of water

11/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup (4oz) shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup (4oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

6 flour tortillas (6-7 inches in diameter)

1. Cook beef, onions, and green peppers in skillet until beef is browned and vegetables are tendered. Drain.

2. Add next 8 ingredients and bring to boil. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.

3. Combine cheeses.

4. In slow cooker, layer about 3/4 cup beef mixture, one tortilla, and about 1/3 cup cheese. Repeat layers.

5. Cover. Cook on low 5-7 hours or until heated through.

6. To serve, reach to bottom with each spoonful to get all the layers, or carefully invert onto large platter and cut into wedges. Serve with sour cream and/or guacamole.

Split Pea Soup

2 Cups dried split peas

4 cups water

1 rib celery, chopped

1 cup chopped  potatoes

1 large carrot, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp salt

1 garlic clove

1/2 tsp dried basil

1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker

2.Cover. Cook on low 8-12 hours, or on high 6 hours, until peas are tender.

Note:  You could also add some ham bits or a ham hock

  I woke up early this morning and went grocery shopping before hubby went to work. Two of the children are getting symptoms of a cold, so I didn't want to make them sit through 2 hours of grocery shopping. (I only go every 2-2 1/2 weeks so it takes awhile).

  I NEVER go grocery shopping without a list, that is just asking for a HUGE grocery bill and nothing to cook. I don't really plan a menu for certain days of the week, I just write up a list of all the meals I want to cook and then I make a list of the ingredients I need. Throughout the week I just usually pick something from the list the night before and make sure I have the meat thawing or what ever the night before.

   I thought I would share my list of meals with you this week. This list is just dinner. For breakfast I rotate between eggs, oatmeal, muesli, farina, peanut butter toast and yogurt. We also try to drink kefir every morning (very good for you!!) For lunch we usually eat leftovers. If there are no left overs then we will eat something like bean burritos or peanut butter sandwiches with fruit. So here is my list:

• Chicken and dumplings
• Taco soup w/black beans (slow cooker)
• Ham w/mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, and stuffing (I am cooking this  next week as a special dinner when hubby is off)
• Split pea soup (I am going to put bits of  the leftover ham in here) (slow cooker)
• Cream of potatoe soup
• Slow cooker enchiladas
• Melt in your mouth sausages (slow cooker) w/seven layer salad
• Fish fry w/potatoe pancakes and wholemade coleslaw (this is for friday night)
• Ranch roasted chicken w/pierogies
• Creamed tuna over toast  (this is a very fast and cheap meal that is delicious)
• Pepperoni pizza twist
• Broccoli cheese soup w/wholemade rolls

 I  have alot of slow cooker items, as in the fall and winter I use this wonderful tool as much as possible. It provides a wonderful aroma in the house and it saves time.

I have included some meals that take a little extra time and some that are fast, this gives me options for the days when I have to run errands or something unexpected comes up.

If anyone is interested in any of the recipes, just let me know and I will post them ;-)

  We are finally back down to only two hamsters, yes that is right, two!!! We finally decided to take them to the humane society. It cost us $50.00, but it was worth it so that they could be happy (because we had so many, they fought alot :-( )  They are up for adoption now, you can see pics of them here www.wihumane.org/animals/smallanimals.aspx.

  For those who don't know the "story" :  My sister-in-law asked us if we would like TWO hamsters. I thought, two little hamsters, no problem. So I told her I would take them. I thought they would be nice little pets for the kids.

   Well, less then a week later we had 9 hamsters, yes the mama had 7 babies. (we did not know we were getting a male and a female, I know I should have asked )  They were very cute     A couple weeks later the mama had another litter of babies!!! (I didn't know they could get pregnant two days after they gave birth) I told hubby that we needed to go and buy another cage so we could separate the males and females, well to make a long story short;  before we could separate them the babies had babies, ugh!!!!  When we did finally get them separated  I made a couple of mistakes and we ended up with more babies. I was sooo frusterated I just did not know what to do with them, I think we ended up having a total of  75!!!!!   I could not afford to continue buying cages and I felt bad because some of them had started fighting....... So that is how I got to here. I would have taken them to the humane society sooner but I did not know they would take them. 

   I kept two, a little gray one that was a very unique color (the only one we had like it) and a cute little black one to  keep the other guy company. I made VERY sure that they were both males.

   So the moral of my story.......make sure you know if you are gettting male or female animals......maybe even better, just get one!!!!

  Now I love my children very much and I am very sure you all do too. But do you always remember to SHOW them that you love them??? Of course you show them you love them in the daily things of life such as making them food, schooling them, washing their clothes ect....but do you try to go out of your way to make them feel special?

  When your children wake up in the morning are you still in bed sleeping? Do they come to you asking if they can have some breakfast and you tell them to get some cold cereal? Wouldn't it be nicer if you were up before them, dressed and ready to greet them with a warm smile and the smell of breakfast cooking?  I know I used to love it when I was a child when I would wake up to the smell of breakfast cooking and a warm fire in the woodstove (now I know most of us don't have woodstoves these days LOL).  Be ready for your children in the morning when they wake up. We mamas set the tone for the rest of the day. Greet them with a cheery smile and a pleasant "good morning". Look into their eyes and tell them what blessings they are to you. Believe me the results will be wonderful!!! Your children will have a much more cheery attitude the whole day.

   While they eat lunch take the time to sit with them and read them a story or even just chat with them. We have some of our funnest conversations at lunch.

    Make sure to let them help you throughout the day; they really do love being included with the cleanup of the house. It makes them feel that they are really contributing and if you start them when they are young they will continue to enjoy house work and cleaning.

    Don't just send your children out to play, go outside and play with them. Even if you can only do this for 15 minutes the kids will greatly enjoy romping around the yard with their mama, my kids get so much joy out of such a simple thing.

   Try to set up a time where you can have family gametime. We usually have ours sometime after dinner time. We play simple but fun games that the whole family can enjoy. Games like Uno, Checkers, or maybe even do a puzzle together.

   Throughout the day make sure to look your children in the eyes and tell how much you love them. Give them a little pat on the head and a little smile as they walk by.  I know sometimes, myself included, that with the day to day busyness of life we forget to do something as simple as smile. Mothers it is SO important to smile and be joyful throughout the day. Sing a little tune as you go about your duties, laugh and have fun with your children, they are little for such a short time.

   Bedtime is a very important time to be pleasant with the children. Read them a story before they go to bed, pray with them, give them a great big hug, take a few minutes to ask them if there is anything they need to talk about that maybe they did not get a chance to say during the day. Then send them off to sleep with sweet thoughts in their heads, the wonderful security of knowing they are loved, and the anticipation of another joyful happy childhood day :-)

  You know I have been trying to figure out this html code thing and I have figured out some of it but not very much :-(   It is really frusterating for me because usually I am a very quick learner. In high school I was a wiz with the computer, I even went to college (for a short time) for graphic design (which is all mostly with computers). Well in the span of 10 yrs ALOT changes. So if any body cares to have pity on me and help me out,  feel free ;-)   In the mean time I am going to go and sulk some more.   Somebody get the violins........  

 I really enjoy these monthly devotionals that I recieve from www.aboverubies.org  This months devotional especially spoke to me, as I do have a tendency to procrastinate at times. I have gotten much better, but some days I still struggle with it. This one will be going up on my fridge as a daily reminder to........

JUST DO IT!

1 Chronicles 28:10, 20, "Solomon my son. Take heed now; for the Lord hath chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary: be strong, and do it... Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work."

It was not enough for David to encourage Solomon to build a house for the Lord, but he also inspired him to do it! We can get great ideas and dreams of what we want to do, but it is another thing to do them. We must not only be hearers of the Word, but doers!

There is more yet. David exhorted Solomon, not only to do it, but to finish it! Not only do we have to get stuck in and do what we have to do, but also finish the task. But there is even more yet! David said, "I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God."  It is not enough to do the job. It is not enough to finish it. We have to do it with all our might! Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, "Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with thy might." And Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatsoever you do, do it heartily."

These are three important principles that we need to implement into our daily lives in the home. There are many tasks that need attending to-laundry, dishes, cleaning up the kitchen and other tasks on our "to do" list. You want to do them, you plan to do them, but you just have to do them. That's all there is to it. You have to get up off your seat and start tackling the job. I have made this a habit in my life-not to look at something and think about doing it, but to get up and do it! It's the only way things get done! Many times I don't feel like doing it, but I make myself get up and do it.

We need to teach these principles to our children too. They are God-like principles. God lives by this principle. He states, "I have purposed it, I will also do it." (Isaiah 46:11)

Even Jesus Himself put this principle into action. He exclaims in Psalm 40:7-8, "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart." Jesus didn't come to study God's will or to meditate upon it, but to do it! None of us will ever understand how hard it must have been for Him to fulfill the plan of the ages to come and suffer and die for our sin. He asked God to take the cup from him, but He faced it and did it.

During the time of Ezra's ministry, he discovered that the Israelites had not separated themselves from the people round about and were doing according to their abominations. He repented before God on the behalf of the people. But that was not enough. He needed to exhort the people to repent and separate from the evil. In Ezra 10:4 Shechaniah encouraged Ezra, "Be of good courage, and do it." They did.

Exodus 19:8 says, "All that the Lord has spoken we will do." Is this our response? (Exodus 24:3)

Genesis 31:16, "Whatsoever God has said unto thee, do."

Proverbs 3:27, "Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it."

James 4:17, "To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."

Are there necessary things waiting to do in your home? Is there some task that you have been putting off? Don't think about it any longer. Just do it!

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"Lord, please help me to do what I need to do. Please give me your strength. Amen."."

AFFIRMATION:

I am not just a hearer, but a doer!

Many women like to save these devotions. They print them out and keep them in a folder to read over and over again. Some print them out and pin them on the fridge with a magnet to read through the week. If you are printing this devotion and need it to be smaller, highlight and change to a smaller font.

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I have always been very particular about wanting my house clean. The key word is "wanting". No matter how bad I "wanted" my house clean I could never seem to accomplish it. When I would start cleaning in the morning I would get carried away and keep cleaning, I have the habit of when I start cleaning I have to clean every little thing before I stop, so ......lunch, oh you mean I have to feed my kids....school work, oh yeah forgot about that, he he. Then I would go to the other extreme, since I wasn't going to be able to get ALL done why even bother starting (besides the necessary basics, of course). So thanks to some wonderful ideas from Candy over at www.keepingthehome.com I came up with a cleaning schedule. Whew!!! This has definately made things easier. I know what I need to get done each day to keep my house clean and I know when to stop (because I know that it is eventually going to get done because it is on my handy dandy schedule). So here it is. Now I know this type of cleaning schedule does not work for everybody, but this is what works for me. Maybe you can get some ideas from it. I also keep on hand Candy's "Three week cleaning plan" and her "Emergency quick clean" I don't have the direct links to these off hand but if you go to her  site you should be able to find them quickly.